Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“You're right,” she said sampling one of those truffles. “I just wanted you to know that we were just talking. And I didn't think a conversation with a random, friendly stranger would make any of your friends think poorly of me.”
“They don't,” I said trying to sound reassuring. “I just... It's me. I'm still trying to figure out how to behave. I've never done this before.”
Aspen’s eyes softened, and she nodded. “You keep saying that like you need to explain it to me. I assure you, you don't. I understand.”
Silence settled between us, one that wasn't exactly comfortable, and I felt completely out of my element.
For some reason, I felt like I should apologize, but I didn't know what for.
“They're stunning,” Aspen said, her eyes locked across the room where a commotion had started.
Weston and Brynn had just made their grand entrance, and they truly did look blissfully happy.
“They really are,” I agreed with her, smiling at my friends as they took the dance floor, kicking off the first official dance of the reception. “You'll love Brynn, I said. “She’s great. And Daisy and Alex, too. I think you'll get along with all of them.”
“Will we be spending a lot of time together during the next three months?” Aspen asked.
“We tend to go most of the same events together, and every month we have our standard poker game. I imagine you'll be seeing a lot of each other, and because they're all so incredibly sharp, you'll have to be extra careful and convincing around them. My boys might be easy to fool, but they'll be the ones to watch out for.”
Aspen laughed, finishing the desserts on her plate and thanking the server who came over to take it out of her hands. “Are you doubting my abilities in this mission? I’m a girl, after all. I think I can handle girl bonding time.”
“I would never doubt you,” I said. “I've seen your determination, and if you put in even one percent of that into our little arrangement, it'll already be going above and beyond.”
Something like pride shone in her eyes, and she grinned up at me.
Couples started flocking to the dance floor, surrounding the bride and groom as they moved to the music.
I offered my hand and looked down at her. “Shall we, darling?”
She laughed again, but took my hand. “Absolutely, sugar.”
CHAPTER 6
Aspen
“Ican't believe we're here,” Jesse said as we got out of the back of the limo that Crossland had sent over a half hour earlier. He’d flown us to Charleston, unable to travel with us because he’d come out early to help Bristol with a few things before her fashion show.
Cameras flashed in so many directions that you’d think we stepped into a nightclub with a strobe light. A red carpet lined the entryway, reporters and paparazzi and influencers on one side of a velvet rope while celebrities slowly made their way inside the building.
“I can’t either,” I said, unable to deny the surreal feeling washing over me as Jesse proudly took my arm and led me up the red carpet.
Thank God for Jesse. I don't think I could’ve made this walk by myself.
Crossland had called earlier and mentioned that his sister needed his assistance, some last-minute low-stock fashion emergency, and was sad that he wouldn't be able to walk me in. But he would meet us inside, and it practically melted my heart when he automatically included Jesse in this invite-only fashion event.
“If anything, this is a good networking event for you,” I said. “Show the industry how you’re a big-time designer too.”
Jesse grinned down at me. “I’m a small fish in a big pond,” he said. “But I like it that way. I enjoy knowing I can hand craft my pieces and drop them whenever I want. It suits me. But, you know I’d never turn down an invitation like this.”
“It’s definitely something, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
I’d met some celebrities at Weston's wedding last weekend, but I was still starstruck at the amount of A-listers walking ahead of us on the same carpet. I may have felt out of my depth on Crossland’s private jet, but standing here? Smiling for cameras snapping pictures of Jesse and myself—Jesse striking poses that were absolutely model worthy while I did my best to smile and not cross my eyes—I felt like I was on another planet.
There was a literal movie star with a career spanning longer than I'd been alive, walking not six feet ahead of us. He stopped to talk to a reporter and we waited, not wanting to invoke some red-carpet taboo by walking behind someone as famous as him.
Ahead of him, I could see some well-known hockey and football players, lead singers, and other movie stars making their way into the building, not to mention models upon models that I’d seen on magazine covers and reality shows.